Your broker of record (BOR) is the broker authorized to represent your decisions on health plan coverage. Your BOR may receive copies of the communications we send to you, including quotes, notifications, and policy information.
From time to time, you may wish to add, change, or remove a BOR. Here are some common questions you might have while navigating that process.
1. Who is authorized to make a broker of record (BOR) change?
A BOR change request can be made only through a letter signed by the contract signer or an interested party authorized to make contract changes at your company.
Note: When adding an Interested Party using the Contact Change form, be sure you check the box that authorizes the interested party to make changes on behalf of your company. Otherwise, the interested party will not have authority to make any changes,such as adding a broker of record (BOR).
- The contract signer is the person responsible for signing the group agreement. He or she is the main person authorized to make membership or contract changes to your account.
- An interested party can be any person authorized to access information about the group, such as enrollees, premium contributions, and plan selections. An interested party may also be authorized to make contract changes to the contract, such as adding or deleting employees, adding or deleting plans, increasing or decreasing premium contributions.
Important: If the BOR change request letter hasn’t been signed by the contract signer or an interested party authorized to make changes to the contract, we’ll return it to you for correction. This will delay the process until a new request letter with an authorized signature is received.
2. How do we add, change, or remove a BOR?
To add, change, or remove a BOR, you must submit a BOR change request on your company’s letterhead. Here are some important things you’ll need to include:
- Your current broker’s identification number and name as the agent of record
- The effective date of the BOR change. Future-dated requests are acceptable, but we can’t honor backdated requests. Requests dated after the first of the month will have an effective date for the following month at the earliest.
- The signature of the contract signer or interested party, as well as his or her printed name and title
When your letter is complete and signed, send it to the Small Business Service Customer Connection Team — preferably by email to amt@kp.org. You can also fax it to 800-369-8010.
3. How long does it take to process a BOR change?
It typically takes between 48 and 72 hours to process change requests.
4. It’s been more than 72 hours. Why hasn’t our BOR change request been processed yet?
If a request isn’t in the system after three days or more, it’s typically because some of the required materials weren’t received or because the request was backdated. Ask your new BOR whether you should resubmit the request.
5. When is the BOR change effective?
The effective date for your BOR change depends on the date we receive your request. Paperwork must be received by the fifth business day of a month for the change to be effective on the first of that month. A BOR request letter dated after the first of the month will be effective the following month.
For example, if a change request was properly submitted and received on December 3, 2016, it should have an effective date of December 1, 2016. However, if a change request was submitted December 3, 2016, but it was incomplete and updated information wasn’t received until December 10, 2016, then the change would have an effective date of January 1, 2016.
6. Why is my previous broker still appearing on correspondence?
This could be a timing issue — for example, if we hadn’t yet processed your BOR change request at the time of a renewal. It could also be because:
- We didn’t receive your BOR request.
- It was incomplete or wasn’t signed by the contract signer or an interested party.
- It hasn’t been forwarded to the proper department yet.
Important: You should always keep proof of delivery, either email or fax confirmation, to show the date Kaiser Permanente received the request letter since this can affect the effective date.
7. How will my previous BOR find out about the change?
It’s your responsibility to inform your previous broker if he or she is being replaced. We’ll send out a courtesy letter when we process a BOR request, but if there are delays in processing the request, that notice will also be delayed.
8. My previous BOR says he wasn’t officially notified of the change. How did that happen?
We typically send a notification letter on the day any BOR change is processed. For future-dated small business BOR changes, we typically send the letter within a week of the processing date. If your previous broker didn’t receive a letter, please have him or her contact their account manager.
Please note that we cannot always accommodate requested effective dates. If your group has paid its premiums in advance and your broker has already received commission, the effective date will be the first day of the coverage period that hasn’t yet generated a commission payment for your group.
9. When does a BOR change show up online?
Once a change has been processed, it should show up online right away. If the BOR change was completed for a future effective date, the change shouldn’t show up online until that date.
If you have any other questions not covered here, please call our Small Business Services Customer Connection Team at 800-790-4661,
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